3. George PérezThe 1980s ushered in a new Golden Age of
superhero comics, and no one did more to define their look and style
than George Pérez. After a wobbly start (his early work bore a
too-obvious debt to Jack Kirby), he fully came into his own when he became the regular artist for Marvel’s The Avengers. An industry star at 26, he accepted an offer from DC to work with Marv Wolfman on The New Teen Titans, and from there, they paired for the first big “event” comic, Crisis On Infinite Earths.
In these two books, the elements that made Pérez such a fan favorite
became clearest to the eye: His was a vivid world, with detailed
costume work, glittering metal, elaborate technology, and dynamic
musculature—but with the rough edges of his idol Kirby polished into
ultra-clean lines, fresh and colorful surroundings, and a penchant for
group shots. He had his flaws—in particular, the tendency to draw
everyone with the same face, as Crisis #5 shows. He was so
technically flawless as to seem somewhat soulless. But Pérez did more
than anyone to formalize what modern superheroes were “supposed” to
look like.